Fire at Hotel Kinston displaces 15

A worker lowers water-soaked carpet from the fire escape at Hotel Kinston on Friday after a small overnight fire tripped the automatic sprinkler system, soaking several apartments and forcing the evacuation of 15 residents.

Zach Frailey / The Free Press

By Noah Clark / The Free Press

Published: Friday, February 21, 2014 at 07:11 PM.

A fire that began on a stove in a kitchen on the 10th floor of Hotel Kinston displaced 15 people Thursday night and led to three or four people being treated by emergency medical services personnel.

At 10:10 p.m. Thursday, an automatic fire alarm went off at the retirement facility, setting off the floor’s sprinkler system, according to Kinston Department of Public Safety Assistant Chief Don Crawford.

“It sent copious amounts of water all through the floor,” Crawford said.

When the water stopped flowing, there was flooding on the seventh floor, the assistant chief said, which closed the building from the fourth floor to the 10th.

A fire that began on a stove in a kitchen on the 10th floor of Hotel Kinston displaced 15 people Thursday night and led to three or four people being treated by emergency medical services personnel.

At 10:10 p.m. Thursday, an automatic fire alarm went off at the retirement facility, setting off the floor’s sprinkler system, according to Kinston Department of Public Safety Assistant Chief Don Crawford.

“It sent copious amounts of water all through the floor,” Crawford said.

When the water stopped flowing, there was flooding on the seventh floor, the assistant chief said, which closed the building from the fourth floor to the 10th.

“It cut off the elevator service from the fourth to the 10th floor,” Crawford said.

Fifteen people were moved from the affected floors to lower floors in the building. The Red Cross was able to provide comfort kits to those affected. Three to four people were treated by Lenoir County EMS.

Fourth floor resident Jesse Daughety said he recieved a call from neighbor Mary Catelette telling him the building was on fire.

“Mr. Nobles, the matience man, then told us all to leave the building,” he said.

Charles Morgan, who lives next door in Kinston Towers, said he was watching a basketball game on the ninth floor when he heard sirens.

“I looked out my windown and saw two firetrucks sitting out in front (of Hotel Kinston) with their ladders up,” he said. “There were a lot of red lights flashing.”

Crawford estimated the residents would be able to move back into their apartments in “no more than a day,” although he emphasized that decision would be left up to Hotel Kinston authorities.

About 150 Kinston Towers residents were evacuated for an extended period after a fire in that building in late June.

Free Press Editor Bryan Hanks contributed to this report.

Noah Clark can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Noah.Clark@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @nclark763.